


Stars of Lovingness In Her Hair

by BambiRex



Series: Garden Lodge Family Shenanigans [8]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Fluff, Genderbending, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, fem!queen, garden lodge family shenanigans, i would die for Layla, king!au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:01:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27326971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BambiRex/pseuds/BambiRex
Summary: Jane does Layla's hair to match her Halloween costume, and they bond away Jane's doubts.
Relationships: Jim Hutton/Freddie Mercury
Series: Garden Lodge Family Shenanigans [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1767487
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	Stars of Lovingness In Her Hair

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Halloween Everyone! 🎃 It's been a while since I updated this series, and I'm also in the Halloween mood, so I figured I could mix the two!
> 
> I also felt like Jane's insecurities surrounding her infertility are not something to easily dismiss, so I wanted to reflect on this a little bit more- but don't worry, this part is 100% fluff!
> 
> And kudos to those who know what Jane and Freddie are dressed as! ;)

If Jane wanted to be truly honest, sometimes, to this day, she still wondered if Layla considered her a real mother. She knew the truth- not every single detail, clearly, but she did know that she grew in Freddie’s belly, that she was brought into this world by her Mummy. She knew, vaguely, that Jane had nothing to do with this biologically. They didn’t quite feel the need to explain the IVF process to their daughter; they kept some of the details in the dark, only scratching the surface to quench her thirst for knowledge, not enough information to confuse her young brain. It was enough that she knew who carried her, and as for Jane’s role in the process, they described it as ‘’Mama’s love helped her grow in Mummy’s tummy”, and left it at that.

Jane felt a little selfish about it, but she thought it was easier when it came to Gabriel, in a way- he was adopted, not carrying either of their DNA. They loved him as their biological son, of course, it’s just that no one could argue who the real mother was there: they were both equal in those grounds. In Layla’s case, Freddie had a bit of an advantage, and even though Jane’s worries mostly faded with time, sometimes she still felt dubious about whether Layla loved Freddie more, looked up at her as her actual mother, and only considered Jane somewhat of a substitute when Freddie wasn’t there.

Nothing could soothe those worries quite as much as the daughter in question, with her innocent sweetness and endless empathy, never even questioning the same things Jane often did.

‘’Will you do my hair?” Layla asked, blinking up at her sweetly. She held out the hair-ties and the comb with a hopeful smile, and Jane wouldn’t have been able to resist, not even if she wanted to.

Layla was excited about Halloween, the premise of dressing up and parading around the house to show off her costume. She told her parents she was going to be the prettiest, and if Layla put her mind to something, then nothing could deter her from it. She never grew out of her Princess-phase- not just yet-, and preferred sticking to the older Disney classics that Freddie claimed were much better than the over-animated ‘’rubbish” you could watch nowadays. Jane wasn’t sure if she agreed with her wife on that, but Layla seemed to. Of course her costume would be one of her favorite Disney Princesses.

‘’Sure, sweetheart.” Jane replied softly, smiling when Layla clapped her hands, such a Freddie-like gesture.

In fact, she looked eerily like Freddie did when she was that age, all big brown eyes and bouncing curls- the most beautiful little girl, and Jane was so proud of her. They made sure to choose the sperm donor with similar physical traits to Jane, but little Layla has taken more after Freddie, appearance-wise. 

Layla knelt on the soft rug between Jane’s feet, tilting her head back. She absent-mindedly petted a purring Romeo while Jane gently combed her hair, making sure not to pull. Layla’s hair still had that baby softness, shiny and perfectly healthy, behaving like a dream between Jane’s fingers. She carefully arranged the tresses, and Layla hummed.

‘’I like it when you do my hair.” She stated, closing her eyes happily. Jane smiled, twisting a lock of hair around her finger gently.

‘’You do?”

‘’Yes. Mummy’s braids are sloppy.”

Jane laughed, storing the information away to taunt Freddie with it later. She would probably receive an offended gasp and a pillow to her face- as Freddie would never be able to get mad at Layla, no matter what- , but it will be fun to rub it in her face. She was the hairdresser mother, and she protected her title fiercely.

‘’What about Aunt Phoebe?”

‘’Not bad.” Layla said with a shrug. Phoebe was famous for her expert braids, but Layla wasn’t too impressed, apparently. ‘’I still prefer yours.”

‘’How come?” Jane asked. Layla whipped around suddenly, a look of ‘’isn’t it obvious?” edged onto her clever little face.

‘’Because you’re my Mama!” Layla replied simply, clearly finding the idea of anyone else being better at doing hair than Jane atrocious. ‘’Everything is best when you do it!”

Jane blinked rapidly, trying to keep the tears at bay. Getting compliments from her wife, from her family, her best friends, were always nice, and she appreciated them greatly. But nothing, absolutely nothing could compare to receiving compliments from her own children: that was a feeling Jane didn’t realize she was missing from her life, but now that she had experienced it, she simply couldn’t get enough.

Hearing something so affirmative from Layla’s mouth made her feel extra special- Layla knew how she came into this world, while Gabriel was still too small to understand. Layla had the choice to decide which parent she considered ‘’real”, and she clearly decided to choose both.

‘’Why are you crying?” Layla asked, twisting to be able to reach up and touch Jane’s wet cheek- the tears refused to stay inside her eye sockets, no matter how hard she tried to keep them there. Jane smiled and shook her head, gently squeezing her daughter’s hand.

‘’I’m just really happy, Layla.” Jane clarified. She gently bopped her on the nose, making her giggle. ‘’You make me very happy.”

‘’Good.” Layla acknowledged with a smile, turning back to let Jane continue work on her hair.

They sat in comfortable silence afterwards, Layla occasionally humming something under her breath while Jane braided her hair, securing each knot with a blue hair tie. Sometimes she had to gently push  
Layla’s head back, because she got so comfortable that she lolled it back against Jane’s hand.

‘’Your head is going to fall off!” Jane threatened her playfully. Layla scoffed, sticking her nose in the air.

‘’That’s not true. My head can’t fall off.” She argued. Jane snickered, lightly tugging on her braid.

‘’Sure it can. It will fall off, and roll away like a pumpkin!” She playfully tickled Layla who squealed, swatting at her hand.

‘’I’m not a pumpkin!”

‘’You are. Just as sweet.” Jane cooed, and Layla stuck her tongue out at her, though she was still grinning.

Jane finished Layla’s hair, gently fluffing up the braid to give it more volume. She fixed the slightly askew headband, and then kissed the top of Layla’s hair.

‘’All done.” She announced. Layla gently put Romeo down and pulled a small mirror out of the pocket of her baggy pants, breaking into a happy squeal when she saw her reflection.

‘’It’s perfect!” She yelled excitedly, checking herself from every angle. ‘’I look just like Princess Jasmine!”

‘’You do.” Jane smiled, watching with pride as her daughter danced around the room, utterly delighted with the final touches of her costume. ‘’Don’t you think Princess Jasmine looks a lot like Mummy?”

Layla nodded, making her braid bounce. ‘’Yes! But Mummy is even more beautiful!”

‘’No argument there.” Jane laughed. Layla twirled around, giving her mother a soft smile.

‘’I really love you, Mama.” She said earnestly, hopping over to Jane and flying into her arms. Jane held her close, unable to stop smiling.

‘’I really love you too, Layla. Should we go show your hair to Mummy and Gabriel?”

Layla didn’t reply, just grabbed her hand and marched out of the bedroom, tugging Jane with her. In the living room, Freddie just finished putting Gabriel into his Spiderman costume. The little boy squealed when he noticed his sister, jumping off the couch and running to hug her.

‘’You’re pretty!” Gabriel exclaimed happily. Layla laughed, patting her brother on the back lovingly.

‘’Mama did my hair!” Layla announced proudly, making Jane blush. Gabriel squealed, giving Jane a gap-toothed grin.

‘’Mama is the best!” He yelled, and Freddie cooed, eyes shining with pride.

‘’I would be offended on any other day, but you’re right, Mama is the best.”

She stood on the tips of her toes to give Jane a kiss, making sure not to smudge her dark lipstick, or Jane’s drawn mustache.

‘’Do you know what Gabriel said?” Freddie asked, lowering her voice while their children kept giggling and squealing about their costumes. Jane shook her head, and Freddie smiled wider.

‘’He said he wanted to be Spiderman, because he’s as brave and strong as you.”

Jane felt her heart gave a little jolt, her eyes once again filling with tears. She didn’t realize Halloween was such a tearful event, but it appeared it was, for her, at least- but they were once again the tears of unabashed happiness. 

‘’Wow,” Jane croaked, swallowing back a sob that threatened to leave, ‘’that’s…really nice.”

Freddie cupped her cheeks, looking deeply into her eyes. ‘’You’re a wonderful mother, Jane. Both of our kids know that.”

Jane didn’t reply, as she realized she wouldn’t be able to do that without actually crying out, so she just pulled Freddie into another kiss, holding her close.

‘’I really love you, Cara Mia.” Jane said playfully, and Freddie let out a dramatic sigh, her eyes twinkling.

‘’I love you too, Mon Cher.”

Over Freddie’s shoulder, Jane caught Layla winking at her. Jane winked back, her heart swelling with love.

There was no more doubt in her heart about where she fit into this family: she was a mother, the Mama of her two children who adored her, and a loyal wife.

She fit right in.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have a certain scenario that you would like me to turn into a fic for the series, you can suggest it here in the comments or on my tumblr, bambirexwrites, and I'll add it to the list! :))


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